More

Making the Most Out of 140 Characters

/
7 years ago

This is a guest post from Marysa Miller, our Campus Ambassador at California State University Long Beach.

Before this past year, I had a twitter account with nothing on it. It seemed complicated and confusing to use so I stuck with my best friend, Facebook. I can’t remember the exact moment when I decided I was going to make the most out of my twitter account, but I taught myself how to use it and began reaping benefits. I stumbled upon the Intern Queen Inc., twitter account, became a follower and then a Campus Ambassador. Then I found a twitter account for College Gloss, where I got in contact with the founder and began writing for their website and currently manage their twitter account. Finally, I became connected to Kira Sabin, The Dating Makeover Coach and landed an internship with The College Crush this past month. When it comes down to it, I have to thank Twitter for these opportunities! Here are some of my tips of finding success in 140 characters.

Write a new bio. When I first started using twitter, I noticed that other Campus Ambassadors had different links to the twitter accounts for other brands they represented in their bio. If someone is looking at your twitter account, it gives an instant networking link to various companies you may intern or work for. Personally, my bio links to the @InternQueen, @CollegeGloss and @TheCollegeCrush accounts. With whatever characters I have left, I put in a very modified bio about myself. These 140 characters tell someone who I am and what I do. Other accounts I have seen include links to personal blogs or facebook pages as well as Universities attended or specific clubs such as PRSSA.

Use your words. I sometimes think that if it’s not meant to fit into 140 characters, it’s not meant for twitter. Use acronyms, “abbrevs” and numbers to shorten what you want to say, but make sure your audience will still understand what you are saying. Don’t use slang or profanity because that will completely turn off any potential employer. Your goal is to network and connect, not drive people away because they have no clue what you are saying!

Use shorter links. I love being able to share websites, articles and videos that I am interested in with my followers and have gotten great responses on things in the past. I am in love with websites like goo.gl and bit.ly that shorten the web address that you are linking to. Even better, these sites keep track of how many people are clicking your link and where they are visiting your link from (if they are clicking it through their facebook, twitter, mobile account, etc). Finally, these links also use less characters than your average web address which gives you more room to say what you need to say!